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11 days ago I was involved in what has been described, in archived posts here as a low to very low risk encounter for HIV. I will avoid going into details as although I'm still a little concerned nothing can be done but wait & have the test.

What I want to know is if I had contracted HIV, would my semen today, 11 days later contain HIV? I realise there may not be a clear cut/definate answer but I would like to know as I've done something stupid.

I suspect what I might be refering to is seroconversion but I dont want to go searching the web for answers but thought I'd come here instead.

Given that you report a broken condom, then you need to test for HIV 12-13 weeks from the date of this sexual encounter. Don't fret, HIV is a fragile virus and is difficult to transmit, especially from female to male. I would encourage you to read our Welcome Thread which contains links to the AIDSMEDS testing and transmissions lessons.

Sexually active people should have a full STD screen (which includes an HIV antibody test) at least twice a year. STD's such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea are far more prevalent and infectious than HIV. I would recommend that you make an appointment with your doctor or local sexual health clinic.

Thanks for replying Matty. At this stage I've accepted the broken condom, I was only posting this for a bit of background to my situation. It was the 2nd part that I was hoping to find out a little more on.

Quote

What I want to know is if I had contracted HIV, would my semen today, 11 days later contain HIV? I realise there may not be a clear cut/definate answer but I would like to know as I've done something stupid

.

I realise this is a little hypothetical & some people may not wish to indulge my concern, but my concern is for someone else.

Thanks for replying Matty. At this stage I've accepted the broken condom, I was only posting this for a bit of background to my situation. It was the 2nd part that I was hoping to find out a little more on.

What you think is just "background" is really the relevant part of your post. Hence the question that Roddles posed above.

I realise this is a little hypothetical & some people may not wish to indulge my concern, but my concern is for someone else.

Brother if you think you've been exposed to HIV (or any other STD) then you should consider yourself potentially infectious and you need to test. It necessarily follows that anyone else who has had unprotected anal or vaginal sex with you should test also.

There's no hypothetical about this. You should be tested and so should your sexual partners. That way everyone's covered.

I would state again that your chances of having contracted HIV infection from this encounter are very low.

Mac, I appreciate your concern. You haven't mentioned if you are in a relationship or not. As far as your concern about possible risk to others, you should be using a condom everytime you have intercourse.

The average time to seroconversion is 22 days. All but the smallest number of those who are going to seroconvert will do so within 4-6 weeks after an exposure to the virus.

Given the circumstances of the single and partially protected incident you described, the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor against transmission having occured. Of course very low risk is not the same as no risk so testing is warranted. You can if you wish test at 6 weeks just to relieve your mind. Assuming you get the negative result I expect you should still re-test at 13 weeks to confirm the earlier result.

Just wanted another opinion if anyones got a sec. I was at the Doctors last week for an unrelated visit & decided to get an HIV test. This was at 5 weeks & it came back negative. I was a little reassured by this.

Just wondering if I should be testing again at 6 weeks or just wait the 13. Testing again so soon seems a little pointless & has be thinking that I might be getting a little obsessive.

Much to my dismay I have just realised its actually only been 4 weeks. If I had of realised earlier I wouldnt have bothered testing. As far as I know 4 weeks is pretty borderline as being the earliest you bother testing. Would this change your recommendation?

The average time to seroconversion is only 22 DAYS, so your test is not completely meaningless. If you were actually seroconverting, your test would likely have come back as intermediate, not negative.

You were protected up until the condom broke and it is unlikely that you would be infected in this manner. I've yet to see the insertive partner test positive after a condom break. However, you should still confirm your four week negative at the 12-13 week point.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Not wanting to open the whole symptoms can of worms thing but I was wanting to clarify something as I'm having a hard time keeping my nerves in check.

Are symptoms1 generally associated with seroconversion? If so, would it be possible to say that symptoms I was experiencing when tested werent HIV related as if they were the result would have come back +. Or is this not always the case.

This may be a silly question but I think I'm just trying to justify the way I'm feeling & organise my concerns in a logical manner. Sorry if I'm rambling. I'm a little panicky atm which isnt helping.

1I realise that symptoms arent an accurate guideline, shouldnt be analysed & there could be numerous different explanations for whats going on in my body.

Hiv antibody tests can come back with one of three results. Negative, positive or indeterminate. If you were seroconverting at the time of your test, the results most likely would have come back as indeterminate. Indeterminate means that some of the bands came back positive, but not enough for a solid positive result. Thus, it cannot be determined whether you are positive or negative.

And by the way, if a person is seroconverting, they don't necessarily have symptoms - but symptoms or the lack of symptoms have no bearing on the test result. The ONLY thing that has bearing on your test result is the presence or absence of antibodies specific to hiv infection.

Seroconversion is the name put on the process that happens when your body is making antibodies.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I'd like to add some further information, both for your benefit and the benefit of all the others who will read this thread.

Seroconversion illness is what some people experience while their body is making antibodies to a pathogen. Hiv seroconversion illness is not the body's response to the virus itself, but to the process of making antibodies.

One of the chemicals released by the body during this process is called interferon. Interferon can cause a person to feel tired, achy, run a temperature and generally feel like shit. This is where the "flu-like" symptoms come from. Interferon is created by the body and released in varying amounts in response to any one of thousands of pathogens. This is why symptoms cannot diagnose hiv. The body's response is a general one that can be created by the introduction into the body of many different pathogens.

Some people's bodies do not react to interferon as strongly. This is evidenced by the varying responses to interferon when the synthetic version is given to a patient for certain other illnesses.

Some people experience a noticeable seroconversion illness while others do not - and this in part depends on a person's tolerance to interferon. This is why symptoms are meaningless when it comes to hiv diagnosis. ONLY antibody testing will reveal one's hiv status.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts